Like death and taxes, the only other certainty in life is that when you put Kyle Dake into a UWW Senior World Tournament, the former 2x NYSPHSAA DII State Champion for Lansing/4x NCAA DI National titlist for Cornell only knows how to do one thing....WIN!!!
Having never tasted defeat in four appearances at this event, the Section IV native raised to his career to 17-0 via a 3-1 decision in the 74kg gold medal match on Saturday in Belgrade, Serbia!
Squaring off against Slovakian, Tajmuraz Salkazanov, in a rematch of the 2021 World finals (won 7-3 by the American), unlike their previous meeting that witnessed Dake rally with six unanswered points in the final 90 seconds (trailed 2-1 at the time), this time the New York living legend led wire-to-wire!!
Doing all of his scoring during the opening 3:00 of action, the Bobcat/Big Red alumnus got on the board first when he got in deep on a single-leg, lifted, and deposited his opponent off the mat to earn a 1pt force out :57 into the 1st period...
That cushion increased to 3-0 in the final 45 ticks of the stanza, as he dove in on a double, transitioned into a seat belt, and then continued to push forward until he was fully behind Salkazanov for the takedown!
The second period proved to be more of a defensive approach, as Dake took his foot off the gas a bit and instead focused on maintaining a solid base that prevented his foe from ever mounting a serious threat...
Feeling that perhaps he was a little too evasive, mat officials issued a caution + 1 against Dake with 1:11 remaining in duration...But this was the lone point he surrendered as he circled away to preserve yet another golden moment!!
Compiling a 5-0 record between yesterday and today, Dake outscored the opposition by a margin of 32-5, including two techs and a sub-1:00 fall on Friday!
One of three members of the U.S. Men's FS contingent to advance to today's title bouts, he was the only one to get his arm raised as defending and/or former Senior yellow medals winners, Thomas Gilman (57kg) & J'Den Cox (92kg), both dropped their matches...
Dake becomes the third American male freestyler to claim top honors in his weight class this week...He joins Jordan Burroughs (79kg) and David Taylor (86kg) who both added to their legacies yesterday...The former is now a 6x Senior champ, whereas the latter picked up his second career belt!
Of the seven weights that have been settled, the Red, White, and Blue have accumulated six medals (3G, 3S)....In addition to Gilman and Cox today, Zain Retherford, brought home silver a day ago!
The stars + stripes will have three more opportunities for hardware on the final day of competition, as Yianni Diakomihalis (65kg) goes in pursuit of his first Senior title; Kyle Snyder (97kg) goes for World Gold #3; and Seth Gross (61kg) tries to close out a bronze medal outing!
The United States (143) is currently enjoying a commanding 48 point lead over Iran (95) in the team standings (finalized weights only)...Georgia is in 3rd with 53 points....Mongolia (49) and Japan (43) round out the top-5!
Squaring off with the 3x Asian Championship bronze medalist, Dake got off to a perfect start in his bid for World Gold #4, dominating to the tune of a 10-0 superiority victory in a time of 2:20!!
On fire out of the gate, the Section IV living legend needed just 14 seconds to draw first blood, as he got in deep on a single-leg off the whistle and then his foe for a feet-to-back takedown on the edge of the mat to seize the immediate 4-0 lead...
The Spartan RTC sponsored superstar later added an additional TD, a 2pt gut-wrench, and a pair of pushouts to polish off his opening-round dub!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dake punched his ticket into the 74kg quarterfinals behind a commanding 12-2 technical fall over the 2022 Asian 8th/2021 Junior World 13th from Mongolia!
Scoreless for much of the 1st period, the American finally broke the ice when he exploded for seven quick in the last half minute, as he was a awarded a shot clock violation point, earned a stepout, utilized a counter chest rap to roll his opponent back-to-feet for 4, and then was granted an additional tally when the Mongolian corner unsuccessfully challenged that he had stepped out prior to the aforementioned exposure...
In the second period, he forced Olonbayar off the mat yet again to make the score 8-0 with 2:08 remaining in the bout...
Right before the clock hit 1:00 to go, Dake and Olonbayar exchanged 2pt exposures, with the NYer scoring first with a counter chest lift, followed by the MGL rep catching the American on his back on a continuation sequence....Dake later came out on top of the ongoing scramble, hoisting and dropping the opposition to the mat for a bout-terminating takedown!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BOMBS AWAY!!!!
Dake was safely into the semifinals following a dominating 43-second sticking of the 2x UWW age-group World Finalist/2021 Cadet Champion!
Scoreless after an initial :30 feeling out period, Dake would demonstrate superb chain wrestling, as he transitioned from a duck into a cow-catcher, and switched off to a body lock to lift and plant his nemesis to secure the fall!!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
JUST FIND A WAY TO WIN!!!
In a bout that had plenty of tension and anxious moments, it was Kyle Dake doing just enough to advance to tomorrow's 74kg world finals by way of a 2-2 criteria decision over the 2019 World 3rd from Iran!!!
Trailing 2-0 at the end of the 1st period, the hole in which he had to climb out of could have been substantially bigger had it not been for some stellar displays of defense from the Empire Stater, as he fought off multiple deep attacks to surrender only a shot clock violation and a step out point...
After 1:00 of jockeying in the 2nd, the 3x World Champ [Dake] would finally be able to get on the offensive, as he got in on a single-leg and then eventually worked his way behind Emamichoughuei, thus allowing him to throw his opponent for what seemed to be a four-point move (originally called as such)...
The Iranian corner would challenge that the throw sequence commenced out of bounds and should only be scored as a 1pt step out...
Upon further review, officials sided with Iran, ruling step out as the only tactical score...However, a caution + 1 (fleeing) was tacked on to propel Dake in front with 1:45 remaining in duration...
Both competitors had their chances to break the deadlock in last 90 ticks, but neither was able to convert....
The contest ended with Emamichoughuei in on a shot, with Dake shutting him down via a chest rest!!!
*Round of 16: 11-0 TF over Martin Obst (Germany)
*Quarterfinals: 11-0 TF over Davit Khutsishvili (Georgia)
*Semifinals: 13-0 TF over Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov (Russia)
*Finals: 2-0 decision over Jabrayil Hasanov (Azerbaijan)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*Round of 16: 12-2 TF over Oibek Nasirov (Kazakhstan)
*Quarterfinals: 5-1 decision over Gadzhi Nabiev (Russia)
*Semifinals: 3-1 decision over Rashid Kurbanov (Uzbekistan)
*Finals: 4-2 decision over Jabrayil Hasanov (Azerbaijan)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*Round of 16: 11-0 TF over Vasile Diacon (Moldova)
*Quarterfinals: 5-0 decision over Fazli Eryilmaz (Turkey)
*Semifinals: 9-1 decision over - Azamat Nurykau (Belarus)
*Finals: 7-3 decision over Tajmuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*Round of 32: 10-0 TF over Islambek Orozbekov (Kyrgyzstan)
*Round of 16: 12-2 TF over Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia)
*Quarterfinals: FALL (0:43) over Sagar Jaglan (India)
*Semifinals: 2-2 decision over Yones Aliakbar Emamichoughuei (Iran)
*Finals: 3-1 decision over Tajmuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia)
Become a Grappler Gold member and get access to premium Grappler articles and videos. Now only $12.99/month!